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Hey guys, its been a while. Right now I am sitting in a little internet cafe in the Gili Islands, 3 small islands right next to each other right of the coast of Lombok. We're on the one called Trawangan spending our days eating good food (albeit a bit more expensive because this place is something of a tourist trap) and chilling on the beach. When I left off we were heading to Singapore, whose modernity was a welcome change after so much natural distractions in Malaysia. We really didn't do a whole lot while we were there other than just walk around the city marveling at the massive buildings. We did make an impromtu pilgrimage to this building complex which was composed of three 55 story buildings rightn next to each other with a huge ship on top. As soon as we saw it in the distance, there was no question that it would be our goal for the day. Eventually we made it, but it was not fully operational so we couldn't got to the top unfortunately, but it did entertain us for a day so there is that. The next day Stephen, Greg, and I decided to split up and do some solo wandering. I started walking in a random direction and found an old used book shop so I restocked my dwindling reading material. Nothing else of interest that day.
The next day we flew into Yogyakarta in Indonesia. After getting some money we made our way to the bust terminal, which turned out to be a glass box which was even smaller than the bus. Those crazy Indonesians. As soon as we stepped off the bus a friendly local offered to show us a hotel (of course now we know all these guys know each other and get commissions so we can safely say that probably accounted for much of the friendliness). We ended up finding a place that was decent and only 3 bucks a night so that became our base of operations for a few days. The same friendly gentleman offered to show us to a local batik art gallery which he said we would lucky to see considering it was closing the next day. We walked in and the room was covered in batik which are basically just paintings on silk or another fabric and were immediately impressed. We assumed batik was something unique to the gallery, but it turns out to be a Yogya wide way to screw tourists out of their money. I wound up paying $60 for one, only to see my exact one for $10 in a department store. A couple days later we found what we think is the origin of all the batik and actually got some decent prices.
One day we rented motorbikes and braved the insanity of the Indonesian roads to drive about 40 km to the Hindu/Buddhist temples at Prambanan. I should note that I would describe the lining of the roads and speed limits as more suggestions than anything else. I still can't beleive we did not hit anything. Of course the temples were impressive and beautiful, but what defines that day most in my mind was the 10 minutes of posing in front of the largest temple while natives filed in and out photos they wanted to take with us. It was surreal that we would be the center of attention with all that history around us. We explored a bit using our rented method of transportation and found a smaller complex of temples so we checked those out too. Two days later we caught a bus out to Borobudur (which is where the photo above was taken) which is the largest Buddhist structure in Southeast Asia. It is designed with multiple levels which you are supposed to walk around while praying. All of the walls are carved with stories from Buddhist history, and they terminate at the top with murals that depict the story of Siddhartha himself. This building is particulary beautiful because it is not right smack in the middle of the city like Prambanan and because of the forested mountains surrounding it.
The days after that are a blur of constant travel while under the influence of a bug Greg and I managed to pick up which left our digestive tracts unable to function properly. We did spend one morning taking a jeep up a mountain so we could see the sun rise over a still active volcano called Bromo and several other volcanoes/mountains around it, however the massive fog coverage kept us from seeing anything. Greg and Stephen climbed Bromo, but I wasn't feeling so good so I slept in the jeep. That fell in the midst of 4 straight days of bus after bus after ferry which I can't say I enjoyed. It's all good now though because the Gili's are great. We're diving tomorrow so I should be able to talk about that next time, and I know I've been sparse, but I feel like I hit all the major stuff so I'm satisfied. See you guys next time.
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Mom So glad you finally updated but just realized I'm more glad I don't know what you're doing til you've already done it!!! Love you! Mom
Julie Haha Blanche...I was thinking the SAME thing while reading this blog!!